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Pick a power source, pick a cutting preference

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Pick a power source, pick a cutting preference: Over the past years, Toro’s Greensmaster 1026 redefined cut quality and manoeuvrability among pedestrian greensmowers. Its natural evolution, the battery-powered Greensmaster e1026, was designed to keep that promise with all the benefits of a zero emission electric motor.

The Greensmaster e1026 fixed-head pedestrian mower represents not only Toro’s investment in research and development of tried-and-true electrified equipment, but its dedication to providing choice within its range of battery-powered products.

Pick a power source, pick a cutting preference

Pick a power source, pick a cutting preference

Toro has given greenkeepers their personal preference back without foregoing green credentials. Inspired by the success of the e1021 and eFlex 1021 models, the electric Greensmaster e1026 brings the choice of a wider width of cut to the market with the added benefit of zero engine exhaust emissions.

With a mowing width of 26-inches, customers can cut faster without losing the quality and precision of cut – it’s productivity powered by electricity – and it’s efficient, quiet and virtually maintenance-free, while boasting excellent balance and manoeuvrability.

Jon Cole, Divisional Business Manager, Reesink Turfcare comments: “We’re delighted to be able to offer customers an ever-expanding range of sustainable mowing options while optimising processes and boosting productivity. With the Greensmaster e1026 it’s possible to achieve those goals and mow up to 44,000 sq ft of turf on a single charge without affecting cut precision.”

As you’d expect, all the USPs of the petrol model remain. The innovative telescoping handle for example with five different handle positions to accommodate the height of the operator and the clip frequency feature which can easily be changed in the field to mow the perimetric collars, and more, while on the go. The quick-change feature also can be locked out for added control.

As the industry continues innovating at lightning speed, the Greensmaster e1026 provides a modern alternative to Toro’s petrol line — the perfect blend of efficiency and sustainability, as

Jon concludes: “With this new electric model, our grass and our business keep getting greener.”

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Three in a row at TIMBERSPORTS® Championship

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Three in a row at TIMBERSPORTS® Championship: The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® British Championship delivered another weekend of edge-of-your-seat action at the Royal Three Counties Show in Malvern, with Glen Penlington securing his third Pro Championship title in style.

Competition for places was fierce, so the action kicked off on Friday with the Pro Championship qualifier. Five of the lowest ranked athletes from the 2023 British Championship, along with nine up-and-coming competitors took to the stage. With the top six athletes earning the right to take part in the 2024 British Pro Championship on Saturday, tensions were running high. But the top six all put in solid performances to progress through with Ben Chapman taking the top spot, closely followed by John Tunstall and Joe Groom.

Three in a row at TIMBERSPORTS® Championship

Three in a row at TIMBERSPORTS® Championship

Saturday’s action delivered more thrilling heats, and reigning champion Glen Penlington had his sights firmly set on securing his third Championship title in a row. Focussing first on the Underhand Chop, Penlington delivered an impressive start recording a time of 25.89 seconds, closely followed by his biggest rival for the title, 2014 champion Rob Chatley. And this excellent form continued throughout the competition, with Penlington achieving the fastest times in all five out of the six disciplines, and earning himself three personal bests in the process.

It was only the Stock Saw where Penlington didn’t get maximum points, but it did deliver a national record, courtesy of George Spencer. Spencer almost set a new British record in the Hot Saw too with a blistering time of 7.39 seconds, but the excitement was soon over, when judge Andy Hall disqualified him for an incomplete cookie.

In the end, Penlington’s dominance was obvious, with a 24 point advantage over second placed athlete Rob Chatley, to complete the hat trick of Championship wins. “I can’t quite believe I managed to win five of the disciplines this time. I think I got a bit lucky with the wood compared to some of the others, but it’s brilliant to be the champion again,” said Penlington after the competition. Graham Turner from Scotland completed the podium with a third place finish.

With the Pro championship wrapped up, all eyes turned to the competitions on the Sunday, starting with the British Women’s Championship. 2023 champion Justine Narusa was the one to beat, but a bad start to the competition with disqualification in the Stock Saw got worse after she ran out of time in the Standing Block Chop.

Instead, Felixia Banck from Denmark, newcomer Rachel Ferrington, and the youngest competitor, 17-year-old Libby Arrowsmith were the athletes to watch with solid performances from all three of them, including a new Danish national record for Felixia in the Stock Saw. Banck’s experience in logger sports ultimately saw her take the overall win, but Arrowsmith turned heads to take second place as the top-ranked British woman. Ferrington also impressed in her first ever TIMBERSPORTS® competition, taking third place overall.

Finally, it was the Rookies’ turn to take to the stage. 2023 Rookie champion Jack Morris was feeling confident going into the competition, having recently achieved a sixth placed finish at the Rookie World Championship in Milan in May. And his confidence was not misplaced, as he stormed through all four disciplines getting maximum points in the Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block Chop.

In his last year competing as a Rookie before he moves up to the Pro league, Morris certainly went out on a high beating his nearest rival and fellow axe club member, Zac Powell, by six points. Powell was pleased with his own results though, after achieving two personal best times in the Stock Saw and Standing Block Chop and improving on his fourth placed finish in 2023. The final spot on the Rookie podium was taken by Rowan Luxton, who also managed to jump up the rankings after finishing fifth in 2023.

After a thrilling weekend of extreme sport action, focus now switches to the World Championship in Toulouse, France in November. Penlington will have to wait until later in the year to find out if he has done enough to qualify for the Individual competition, but the tricky task of selecting the athletes to compete in the Team World Championship starts now.

“All three competitions this weekend were packed full of excitement and drama,” said Vicky Tween, TIMBERSPORTS® manager at STIHL GB, “but it’s onwards and upwards now for the athletes who make the British team. They will be laser-focussed on training to make sure they do their country proud.”

For full results from the weekend’s competitions, visit the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® database.

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A journey into the Green Heart of Innovation

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A journey into the Green Heart of Innovation: In his role as bridge between R&D and consumers, the expert agronomist Fabio Banin is the voice of the first chapter of “Green Talk,” the project to discover STIGA’s innovations designed for more sustainable and accessible garden care.

STIGA, leader in the garden care sector, presents its new, innovative project “Green Talk”: a journey into the heart of innovation, technology, design, and sustainability through the renowned voices of industry experts.

A journey into the Green Heart of Innovation

A journey into the Green Heart of Innovation

With the experience of STIGA experts, “Green Talk” is designed to discover the valuable stories behind the brand’s innovations, demonstrating the strong connection between man and nature and how important the care for green spaces is for our planet. As sustainability and environmental awareness are increasingly in the spotlight, “Green Talk” aims to inspire and educate, offering a unique perspective to explore the interplay between nature and technology.

The first chapter of this journey features Fabio Banin, an expert agronomist in the field of green innovation, who likes referring to himself as a “grass advocate” because of the fundamental message that guides his work: “Greenery is alive and therefore needs to be cared for, not maintained.” Currently part of the STIGA team, Banin holds a wealth of experience in the industry, a cutting-edge vision, and his passion for environmental sustainability.

In this exclusive interview, Banin explored the fascinating world of garden care, sharing his experience, the challenges he faced over the years, and his vision for the future of the industry. As an advisor at STIGA, Fabio Banin brings a unique perspective by playing a crucial role as a bridge between R&D and customers, offering specialized technical assistance and gathering valuable feedback to improve STIGA’s products and services. “Within the company, I like to describe myself as a “joker”, a role that allows me to act as a connector between the different departments and the sales network, providing a cross-functional perspective that fosters collaboration and development.”

Reflecting its green soul, Fabio Banin addressed the constant focus on innovation and sustainability in STIGA’s approach – factors that make this company truly unique in its sector. “It is the winning combination of a future-oriented attitude and a deep commitment to sustainability. This is evident not only in the research and development of cutting-edge products, but also in the company’s practices that put environmental stewardship at the heart of its actions.”  Fabio continues “Among the most significant projects in which I am involved, I am particularly proud of the multi-year project on mulching in collaboration with the University of Padua, aimed at exploring the benefits of this practice for lawn health and for reducing fertilizer use. Preliminary results indeed demonstrate the effectiveness of mulching in improving lawn quality and in reducing the environmental impact of excessive or incorrect use of polluting fertilizers. In addition, from a resource-saving perspective, the results prove that mulching can work in synergy with fertilizer, enhancing its effectiveness and therefore requiring less of it (up to -60%) for a more lush, healthy lawn.”

Besides showing STIGA’s commitment to sustainable and advanced gardening solutions, this research project also has an educational objective aimed at the end consumer, so that the company’s efforts translate into innovative practices adopted by individuals to generate a positive impact together.

Moreover, Fabio Banin analyses the changes and challenges in the market, which are essential to adapt to environmental and consumer needs, underlining the importance of innovation and ongoing research to maintain leadership in the garden care sector. In this context, STIGA is constantly striving to remain at the forefront of current trends, starting from the transition to electric solutions and the integration of advanced technologies into products, ensuring effective and sustainable solutions for customers.

“Looking to the future, my hope is that STIGA will continue to be recognized for its commitment to sustainability and innovation as hallmarks, thus establishing itself as a pioneer in the garden care sector, designing machinery and equipment that can make gardening more efficient and accessible to all, and guiding the market towards more conscious choices.”

This is just the first of the stories from STIGA experts’ first-hand experience. A journey into the green world of innovation, guided by the passion and expertise of people like Fabio Banin and STIGA’s longstanding commitment to the care of greenery.

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A commitment to making a difference

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A commitment to making a difference: Scott MacCallum talks with Rob Taylor, Head of Grounds at the 500-acre Worth School campus in West Sussex, a man who likes to get things done…

Having worked as a contractor for five years at Worth School, in Turners Hill, West Sussex, Rob Taylor was a natural choice for taking up the permanent internal Head of Grounds role in January.

A commitment to making a difference

A commitment to making a difference

Rob has not been slow in putting his stamp on things and is committed to making a difference to the outdoor experience at Worth, ensuring the very best quality and aesthetic to the lawns and pitches – whether that be for the annual Speech Day picnic or the constant flow of sport fixtures.

“Leave it better than you found it is an important motto, I’d love to stick to that value. I’d love to have every single home game played without worrying about the weather. I’d love well-draining pitches, which retain moisture in the summer. I’d love all our staff to be well-qualified and for them to be able to apply for jobs knowing that to have been trained at Worth School is a real plus point.”

Rob acknowledges it is his job to ensure the pitches on the campus are fit for purpose at any given time, which is no mean feat.

The 500-acre school campus comprising farm, fields and woodlands, is enjoyed by a large community of 670 day and boarding pupils as well as a thriving lettings business in holiday time where visiting schools and businesses enjoy the facilities.

“With 15 multi-sport pitches, five cricket squares, two grass six bay wide nets and a nine-hole golf course there’s always something to be done!”

Climate change, of course, remains a serious concern; a defining global issue and intrinsically connected with sport as Rob well knows.

“The biggest problem for us has been the weather, as the majority of our pitches are on clay-based heavy soil. We got through January but then the weather turned on us and it’s been shocking,” he added, saying that they had had 14 mil the night before, and that the February rainfall figure was 160 mil, double what it had been the previous year.

However, he brings two decades-plus of experience as he tackles a wide range of sadly common challenges.

“As mad as it sounds I’ve bought an electric post borer. Nine times out of ten the middle of the pitches are fine and you’d get away with a game, but it’s the corners that suffer so we’ve been putting in bore holes and back filling with sand – it’s a 19 mil bore. We did 34 holes in one corner recently and put in around two tonne of sand down to the depth of a metre and a half. It’s very labour intensive.

A commitment to making a difference

A commitment to making a difference

It took us a day to do that one corner, but it has actually worked.”

Rob’s medium to long term play is to put in perimeter drainage around the school’s playing fields and then add in lateral drainage.

“Just to put in the perimeter drain round one field is a significant cost and we’re waiting for the costings for the laterals. I’ve got a guy putting together a proper four year drainage plan.”

Rob’s initial involvement with Worth School came as a Contracts Manager for Nurture Landscapes, who had the contract with the school to offer support to the now-retired Head of Grounds.

“At the time I was running quite a big patch in the south east for Nurture but when the Head of Grounds retired I was asked by my manager to take over the responsibility as part of my wider remit. But it became a full-time job and when Nurture wanted to pull me out last September the school said that as I’d been at the school for five years I was on their TUPE list – which protects the employment rights of those who move to a new employer – and had protected rights. I decided I would rather stay with the school.”

With his feet under the proverbial table, Rob has set about making his mark on the school. His first move was to commission a consultancy to produce a report into what needed to be done to bring the school up to modern day standards.

“The first thing I did was change the seed, the way it was applied, and the fertiliser programme. I’ve moved to a new amenity seed, supplied by Burnham Brothers, and we’re now using a modern Wiedenmann seeder, which is double decked, so we are doing one pass rather than three. It’s amazing really. We hired it in from a local sports contractor who I’ve known for about 20 years,” said Rob, who himself has been in the industry for 22 years starting as a young lad at Whitgift School, where his grandad also worked.

On the fertiliser regime Rob is working closely with Laura Prior, of Symbio, who visits regularly.

“Laura is sound. She came in here last March and we did soil samples and the fertiliser programme has been tailored from there with her,” said Rob, adding that it fitted will with the goal of introducing a more organic approach.

When the weather has played ball, the pitches have been praised and allowed Rob and the team to show that the new regime does produce the promised results.

A commitment to making a difference

A commitment to making a difference

Rob’s desire to making the required improvements and get things done has been met by a refreshingly positive approach from the powers-that-be within the school. Even if that meant the introduction of a turbo-boosted learning curve.

“I even took the Bursar on a trip to look at vertidrains so that he could understand what it was I was talking about because he’d never seen one. As soon as he saw it in action he said ‘When do you want one?’.” Rob’s direct line manager is the Estate’s Bursar, who, according to Rob, is very like himself in that he will argue for whatever its required.

“The school is listening, but we are talking about a place where not so long ago the pitches were being cut by a 60-year old Ransomes Marquis, which didn’t even have a dead man’s handle!”

Another welcome addition will be the new maintenance facility.

The new building is being started during the May half term, while a Waste2Water system is being installed at the school farm, to be shared by the grounds team and the school mini buses.

Staffing and recruitment issues are common to virtually every Grounds Team, irrespective of which part of the country.

“We were three people down but two people are just completing their security checks and should start fairly soon.”

They will be joining Rob’s Deputy, Richard Sweetman; Foreman Gardener, Bob Brewer, and Assistant Gardener, Jean Pierre.

“There are a lot of young kids who do want to join the industry, but once they start they change their mind very quickly as it’s hard work!”

The recruitment plan in place will allow Rob to split his time between hands-on and office to enable the future planning which he is keen to implement.

Rob has no intention of leaving any time soon but if he ever does, he wants to leave it better than when he found it. Speaking with him you are left in no doubt that he will honour that pledge.

He is looking forward to the final and seventh member of the team joining in September and he is excited about the possibilities at Worth School.

INFINICUT® FL22 proves to be a silver lining

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INFINICUT® FL22 proves to be a silver lining: An INFINICUT® FL22 was purchased by the team at Stanedge Golf Club to equip the Derbyshire venue with a mowing solution for periods of wet weather… and in reality, its delivery in the autumn of 2023 could not have been more timely!

The prolonged and persistent rainfall has seen Head Greenkeeper Lee Williams and his team turning to the INFINICUT® to maintain HOC and presentation while the triple green mowers are resigned to sheltering in the shed.

INFINICUT® FL22 proves to be a silver lining

INFINICUT® FL22 proves to be a silver lining

Located in the picturesque Peak District, the moorland/parkland course like many has seen unprecedented rainfall levels over the last six months. “With no ability to control what mother nature throws at us, all we can do is equip ourselves with the tools and techniques to be able to deliver surfaces no matter the weather” explains Lee, who took over as Head Greenkeeper two years ago. “We knew that we needed to look at hand mowers and spoke to our local dealer Balmers GM about the options available. We trialled the INFINICUT® and were sold straight away! The quality of cut was unbelievable, like nothing we’d ever used before.”

The floating-head FL22 forms part of the INFINICUT® golf range, designed to deliver the ultimate precision for fine-turf surfaces. Engineered to suit the specific set of requirements needed for modern golf-course maintenance, the FL22 is equipped with INFINICUT’s SMARTCut™ cylinder reels, produced in-house and dynamically balanced for unbeatable accuracy.

“On top of the quality of finish, the fact that the INFINICUT® is battery-powered has been another big plus-point for us. While it wasn’t a necessity initially, we have now all-but eliminated issues with noise and vibration levels, as well as saving ourselves money on fuel.” Lee continues, “John Hobbs at Balmers was excellent at getting us all set up, including showing us the many features of the INFINIApp which we’ve been enjoying using and is just another thing that makes the INFINICUT® stand out from the competition.”

At the time of writing, Lee explained that softer ground conditions had seen the club unable to use the triple green mowers this year to date. “The fact we’ve been able to get out twice weekly and in any breaks between showers with the INFINICUT® has been critical. I’d love to be able to hand mow year-round but with such a small team we are limited by our resources, however, should we be able to go down that road it would be an INFINICUT® fleet without doubt!”

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